Friday, August 29, 2014

Awoke a little after 5:00. Mom makes quite a racket when she goes to the bathroom. Thumps cane loudly, slams doors shut, slams windows shut. Ah the symphony that is my mother. Later, she will add her other instrument: the spoons!

I decided to run some errands after she went back to bed: Farmer’s Market, where I had tea with RB and shopped for cheese, milk, and organic veggies; PetSmart for dog food; the bank; and the post office. I am back home and ready to sit down and begin working on an edit for a foreign client.

Mom is in the kitchen clanking away at her cereal. She asked about her husband again.

What did he die of?

Heart disease.

Oh.

Do you know who my father was?

I forget.

Do you remember who your husband was?

I forget.

I showed mom a photo of dad and herself.

Who’s this?

My husband.

Well, he was also my father.

I know.

Pointing to her, I asked, Who is this?”

His wife.

Mom, that’s you.

I know. That’s me. 

The mind is a very strange thing. We can compartmentalize things to such a degree that it makes very little sense in the real world. Or is what we are experiencing the real world, indeed?

And now, another mind might be laying to rest. Nancy’s husband is unresponsive. Very low blood pressure and was taken to the ER from Kessler early this morning. Nancy and Eric were slated to return home on Tuesday. All bets might be off at this point for his returning as soon. Here was a brilliant and successful man, only in his late 60s. He was an avid tennis player and in otherwise excellent shape, still contributing to society. And now…

And then there’s my mother. Some of life makes very little sense. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy that my mother is still alive, but very little of who she was survived with her physical body.